Yemen's humanitarian crisis

Yemen: Where War and Famine Meet at the Bedside

Fighting between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces has displaced more than 250,000 people across Yemen. According to the World Food Programme, more than 2 million children under the age of five are now suffering from acute malnutrition.

BBC Senior International Correspondent Orla Guerin reported from the port city of Aden. Bajash Ali Hassan arrived at the emergency ward with his wife and five children in tow. The youngest were forty-five-day-old twins — a girl named Ragad and a boy named Rad. "We fled bombardment, gunfire, and drone strikes targeting civilian vehicles to get here," the father said. "Tins of formula are expensive because of the war, so we can only feed them twice a day, and some days there is nothing but water."

The hospital's malnutrition unit has 22 beds, but shortages of funding, staff, and medical equipment mean it can accommodate only 13 patients at a time. Money that once flowed from international organisations has stopped. Young doctor Nour Mohammed described the situation plainly: "Since the war reignited, things have gone downhill fast. We lose patients every day. There are no ventilators, no oxygen cylinders." The twins, diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, share a single bed. Their mother, Rina, said the girl had improved slightly but the boy had worsened. That night, unable to find shelter, the father spent the night on the street with three of his young children.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco evacuated its Eastern Province headquarters in anticipation of further Houthi attacks, and nearby Dammam airport was reported to have been struck. Former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney was blunt: "It is a humanitarian nightmare for the Yemeni people. The Houthis are targeting Saudi civilians and Saudi Arabia has no choice but to respond. The situation had already deteriorated when I left ten days ago, and it has become even more severe in the past few days."

North Korea: Kim Yo Jong's Ascent and the Succession Question

Speculation about Chairman Kim Jong Un's health swirled this week. Pyongyang has denied reports of illness, but public activity by his sister, Kim Yo Jong (金与正), has surged noticeably.

BBC Seoul correspondent Jake Kwon reported that Kim Yo Jong inspected the inter-Korean border on Wednesday and declared that propaganda loudspeakers would be reinstalled along its entire length. Since last month, when three South Korean soldiers were seriously wounded by landmines near the border, she has issued hawkish statements every few days, calling South Korean officials "idiots" and demanding they keep quiet. Kwon described her role as "functioning as the bad cop to the Chairman's good cop."

On the question of succession, South Korea's National Intelligence Service views Kim Jong Un's thirteen-year-old daughter as a candidate, noting she has appeared at military inspections alongside her father as an apparent equal. Defectors, however, push back: "North Korea is an extremely patriarchal society — it is hard to imagine her at the top." Analysts are not treating speculation about Kim Jong Un's death seriously, and his own official schedule has continued.

Venezuela: Nationwide Protests Demand Machado's Return

Venezuela's opposition party Vente Venezuela staged nationwide demonstrations demanding the return of party leader María Corina Machado — the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate — and the release of political prisoners. BBC correspondent Mimi Swaby reported from the scene.

Protesters waving blue Vente flags and placards put forward three demands. First, the immediate release of all political prisoners. While some have been freed through US-backed prisoner exchanges since January, an estimated 300 to 500 are believed to remain detained. Second, the safe return of Machado, who is currently in Panama; in September alone she made three attempts to enter Venezuela — by air and by sea — and was turned back each time. The United States has also indicated it does not consider this the right moment for her return. Third, confirmation of a date for free and fair elections next year. President Trump has stated that "Venezuela is not yet ready for elections."

Underpinning the protests is a major US-Venezuela oil deal: an agreement covering 65 billion barrels of oil accessible to the United States for at least 100 years. That deal has deepened ties between the interim government and Washington while effectively pushing Machado to the sidelines of negotiations.

New York: Central Park's Horse-Drawn Carriages to End in 2028

Horse-drawn carriage rides in New York's Central Park — a tradition of more than 160 years — will end in June 2028 after the city council voted to ban them.

Animal welfare groups have long argued that the horses are forced to live in cramped stables spread across multiple floors of tall buildings. According to the Manhattan Borough President's office, 40 horses have died since 1982, from causes including heatstroke and collisions. In June of this year, a runaway horse caused a tourist to fall from a carriage and die, sharply intensifying public pressure for a ban. Carriage operator spokesperson Christina Hansen objected forcefully: "They are trying to abolish a legitimately regulated business in an unprecedented way. Our horses, licences, and jobs will all be taken — and all that remains is a vague promise from the mayor's office to sort it out eventually."